As the stage lights dimmed and the curtain closed Monday night for Paul Pfau, 26, a Shepherd University graduate and contestant on NBC’s hit TV show, The Voice, he remained upbeat and optimistic after his elimination.
“The whole experience was amazing. I got more out of it than I thought I could…just to be able to work with Pharrell will be something that I will keep with me forever,” Pfau said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I am just trying to make a sustainable music career.”
On the show Monday, Pfau performed a cover of “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” performed in the past by Ray Charles.
“I was just looking at what I had already done, I really wanted to show off my guitar skills,” Pfau said. “That is what you would see if you came to a Paul Pfau show.”
The Voice judges commented on his performance noting his strong string work.
“The guitar playing is something that doesn’t get lost, ever, especially when it is really good,” Adam Levine said in a post-performance review Monday.
“Tearing it up on the guitar, I think you left it a little wide open to take from you (vocally),” Christine Aguilera said.
Another judge Blake Shelton told Pfau, that he and the other judges knew he could play the guitar.
“That was my thing. It was really important for people to know that about me,” Pfau said.
Pfau’s coach, Pharrell Williams had to make the tough choice of narrowing his three performers down to two.
“This is not what I want to do because I believe in you both,” Williams said just before Pfau’s elimination.
“Man this is incredible. I have learned so much in such a short period of time and want to thank you for what you’ve done for me,” Pfau said to Williams.
Pfau said that the show gave him exposure and allowed him to show people what he could do.
“They treat you like rock stars and take good care of you. They really care about you, who you are as an artist, and make that come across on TV,” Pfau said.
Pfau was raised in Myersville, Md., a small town in Western Frederick County and was a 2006 graduate of Middletown High School and a 2010 graduate of Shepherd University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a minor in psychology.
“Shepherdstown is where I got my start, the local town people, fellow alumni sat there and listened to me in the dorm rooms, and told me to keep doing it. The town has been really supportive,” Pfau said.
Remaining optimistic about his future, Pfau is back in the studio working on new music, practicing and recording the new music with his band.
“I like to write, record, and play my own songs,” Pfau said. “I’m going to get back out and playing shows again.”
Pfau said that he is working on a new album.
According to Pfau, due to contracts with the TV show, a period of time must pass before he can release new music.
“I really want to release a single,” Pfau said. “The band is in the rehearsal stages of the new songs I have written.”
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